PLANTATION GIVES MAYOR A PAY RAISE

PLANTATION -- Residents rarely complain that the mayor is making too little money.

But Bill Brooks began a lengthy discussion of Mayor Frank Veltri's salary on Sept. 16 by telling City Council members that Veltri is making less than mayors in other cities and could earn more money as a starting police officer.

"He's been rewarded with a salary lower than any city employee," said Brooks, a civic leader from the Lauderdale West community. "He earns less than the department heads who work for him. With the salary you're paying him, he'd be better off joining the police department."

Council members voted 3-2 to increase the mayor's salary to $49,000 from $23,760. They voted to eliminate the $400-a-month travel allowance available to the mayor.

Council members and Veltri expressed concern that the pay raise was a bonus for Veltri, as well as an indication that the city needs a full-time mayor.

Veltri has been mayor since 1975 and said he has watched the job go from a part-time to a full-time position.

"It's a matter of principles," Veltri said. "It's a recognition that the city needs a full-time mayor. I see it as a vote of confidence. Even the opposing votes were a vote of confidence because there were some difficult questions to be addressed."

Council members Larry Freilich and Rae Carole Armstrong said the move was a statement that the city has grown to where it needs a full-time mayor.

Armstrong said that she expects people to run for mayor in the next election because of the high salary.